The Future of Consumerist

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Almost four years ago, we marveled at the ridiculously high grocery prices in Nunavut, the largest and northernmost Canadian territory. Now, after years of paying $35 for a bottle of V8, $28 for cabbage and a whopping $65/pound for “Best Value” brand chicken, the folks in Nunavut are fighting back.

Even though the population of Nunavut is just over 30,000, more than 17,000 people have liked this Facebook page where people discuss — and post photographic evidence of — the high cost of food in the area.

In addition to the prices listed above, Nunavut residents show bags of frozen fruit and vegetables that cost anywhere from $5 to more than $10. A bag of shredded cheese will run you over $12, while two liters of 2% milk costs almost $9.

Pictured here is the 32.8 oz container of ground coffee for $29.89. That’s more than $.91/oz.

To be fair, in U.S. dollars that’s only $.89/oz.

Regardless, I can get all sorts of coffee delivered to my home in Philadelphia and the most I would have to pay for a container of that size is around $.50/oz., with most coffees priced significantly lower.

People in the area have begun protesting outside stores and have started a petition on Change.org asking the Canadian government to enact “concrete, effective change that will address poverty and food insecurity in our communities.”

Some in Nunavut say their protests are already working, with some stores having dropped prices to more reasonable levels in response.